Amelia walked down the main street of Storybrooke ringing out her hands after ending her first appointment with Archie or the Jiminy Cricket, he advised her to delve deep into her past. He believed she could change.
But his assurance didn't ease help the feeling in her chest. Her hands were itchy, she needed to hit something. Soon. She reached the diner just as she saw Whale or Dr. Frankenstein to leave David in a huff, he bumped into her shoulder on his was past her without apologising. She'd have to deal with him later. Amelia found David sat on one the table's with a coffee writing, when he saw Amelia stood across the table with her arms folded.
"How are the thieves doing with patrolling?" he asked her without looking up at her. He spat out the name thieves
"There doing what there told for now, but a few have disbanded from the group after the dwarves were taken away" she reported to the Prince who stopped and looked up to the assassin.
"Will they be a problem?"
"No, as long I keep their hands and bellies full of drink they'll behave" Amelia pulled the seat opposite him and sat down as she lean across the table on her elbows to speak the man quietly "but they have families as well, some have had to pull a double after leaving their job in town to keep the numbers up"
"We need to keep people from crossing the line" the sheriff argued
"Then bring the dwarves back. Not enough of my thieves came with the curse to keep a patrol round the clock like you want and not all of them are happy taking orders from you"
"I'm doing everything I can Amelia"
"The only reason there're out there is because I asked them to, they're not loyal to you, your highness. They want to know why their putting in more time into something you want, and I can't give them the answers, soon they won't be loyal to anyone, then you'll have a problem"
"Lia you need to trust me"
"Trust breeds trust" she tells the Prince. She lets out a deep breath to quell her rising anger "I'll keep them quiet for the time being, but you need to agree to fewer numbers per patrol if you don't bring the dwarves back"
"Okay I can do that" he relented
"Is there anything else?"
"How are you with horses?"
Early the next morning she waited inside the towns stables for David to arrive with Henry. She'd agreed to look after Henry as David was busy keeping the town from turning into complete chaos. But she had to admit she enjoyed the young boys company.
"Now, just think how happy Emma and Snow will be when they come home to find that you've become a proper knight" he heard the Sheriff tell his grandson as they made their way into the stables
"And here I thought you wanted to be an Assassin" Amelia said stepping out to find David's arms wrapped around the young boy's neck playfully.
"Amelia!" Henry's eyes lit up seeing the red head and pushed himself away from his grandfather and ran into her stomach wrapping his arms around her waist. Amelia ruffled the boys hair, as he looked up at her "What are you doing here?" he asked pulling himself off her
"Your grandfather told me he wanted to take you to the I called in a favor with the stable hands I knew back home to get one of your own"
"Say hello to your steed" David told him. Henry looked down the stalls and with Amelia and David as Henry approached a grey one that belonged to Amelia
"Is he mine?" he asked looking back to his grandfather and Amelia
"Achilles is actually mine" Amelia told him with a chuckle
"This one's yours" David corrected him as a white horse trotted to the front of its stall. The horse nickered happily as David stroked him.
"Really? So… How do I get on him?" Henry asked his Grandpa
"Oh, you're not riding today" David tells him
"I'm not?"
"No. There's much to learn before you hop in the saddle"
"Like what?"
"Well, every morning, you'll have to muck out his stall. Then, you'll brush him and feed him. After school, you'll do it again. Every day, twice a day"
"That's not riding, that's babysitting" Henry argued
"Horse-sitting" Amelia corrected the young boy "It builds an essential bond. The trust between knight and steed or in my case between Assassin and steed. I need to trust him to find me and take me to safety if I get hurt and he I" she gave Henry a small wink making the young boy laugh
"Okay. But, when will I ride him?" Henry persisted
"When the horse tells you" David tells him "I'm going to go check in on the dwarves. I'll pick you up later. Be good for Amelia" David nodded at the red head and left her with Henry. He did trust her when it came to Henry, but anything else she was as dangerous as Regina.
"So… Anything you want to tell me?" Henry asks the horse
"Come on. Ill introduce you to a brush"
Enchanted Forest
Many years ago
A young Amelia yawned for the tenth time as Master Montague walked her through the streets of early morning Monteriggioni. The man looked back to the young girl he was training with a chuckle as they passed through the gates of the town
"If Mentor Claudius saw you yawning, he'd swipe ya" he teased her "An Assassin must never show his or her enemy of any weakness. They won't let you take a nap before they try to kill you"
"But you're not going to kill me" she told her mentor
"What makes you think that?" Master Montague looked back to his apprentice with a raised brow
"I just do Master" Amelia gave her master a tight-lipped grin making the older man shake his head with a chuckle as they walked up the dirt track towards the stables. Once inside the stables Amelia looked up in wonder at the row of horses that stuck their head out of their pens waiting eagerly for their masters returns. Each master had their own horse.
"I've managed to persuade Mentor Claudius into purchasing your very own steed" Master Montague said as he escorted her to one of the stalls that looked empty on the outside but on her tiptoes, Amelia peered over the stable door to see a foul galloping around its stall.
"Every morning and evening you'll come down here before breakfast and bedtime to clean out the stall, feed him, brush him until you're ready to ride him"
"When will that be?"
"When he tells you"
Amelia watched Henry stood on a stool as he brushed the horse "Gramps says that you'll tell me when I'm ready to ride you. So… Anytime. Like, soon?" Henry asked the horse
"You do know they can't talk back right?" Amelia reminded the boy
"I do" he gave her a cheeky grin and went back to brushed "So how long did it take you to ride a horse?"
"Three years" she stated
"Three years?" he whined
"Uh-huh" she affirmed with a nod "except I had to learn how to fight on one as well and I was a lot younger than you are when Romeo first introduced me to the stables"
"Did your Dad ride horses then?" the young boy inquired with the woman. He wanted to get to know her more, more than what the story book had told him about
"We all did. But his main way of travelling around the Enchanted Forest was by sea"
"Cool" his' eye's seemed to light up at the mention "Did he have a ship?"
"The Jackdaw, the fastest ship in all the realms" she boasted with a wide fond smile
"Doesn't everyone say that about their ship" he queried the woman.
"They do, but they didn't handle the Jackdaw"
"Could you teach me how to sail, it looks fun"
"Knights don't belong on a ship" she teased him. Suddenly the horse started to rear up and whinnied in fright. Amelia heard the others start to do that same further down. She watched closely as the horse wouldn't calm down.
"Henry let go of him" Amelia told him in alert as she saw his hand still on the horse. Amelia sprinted forward and she wrapped her arms around Henry's torso as the horse reared up again and bolted the stall. Amelia had to twist as they both fell onto the hard ground; she took most of the brunt on her back
"Ahh" she exclaimed as her shoulder met the concrete floor holding onto Henry as a figure filled the stall entrance, she opened her eyes and looked up at the figure that had spooked the horses. It was man dressed the same way back home
"Daniel?"
She managed to get herself and Henry up from the floor and stood in-between Regina's fiancé and her adopted son holding her left shoulder she landed on with her right hand. The horses continued to whinny in fright.
"Daniel" his eyes switched to the red head recognising the name "Yeah look at me, it's me Danny, its Lela" Daniel cocked his head to the side studying her as he stepped forward, Amelia used her right hand and grabbed the front of Henry's school jumper to push Henry further into the back wall while her shoulder screamed in pain and put her left hand up to stop the man. This wasn't Daniel.
"Stop!" the redhead demanded out of the man. He seemed to take the command and he stopped
"Henry, I need you to run" she said not taking her eye's off the man
"What if he's hurt? His hands" Amelia's eyes flicked down to his hand and saw blood dripping off his fingers. He wasn't hurt that's for sure.
"Henry run, do you understand"
"Lia" her head snapped back to face the boy fiercely
"Henry run" she ordered holding her hand further up to Daniel, this only seemed to rile the man on as he lunged for the red head, but Amelia was quicker and dodged his swinging hand by ducking under it and ran her right shoulder into his stomach wrapping her arms around his torso and pushed him with all the strength in her legs to push him into the side wall, making room for Henry to escape.
"Now!" Amelia shouted and Henry listened. Daniel pushed the woman off of him and back handed the red head onto the floor and headed for the stall door "Oh no you don't" Amelia growled as she wiped the blood from her nose and leapt back up and grabbed him by his shoulder vaulted her legs up around him until her thighs were wrapped around his head making him stumble back into the stall and used her elbow to repeatedly hit him in the head attempted to knock him out, but he was too strong for her and hit her against the concrete wall until she lost her grip making her legs fall back down and put his hand around her neck. His eyes bore into hers, they were devoid of anything that remotely resembled her old friend.
"What the hell are you?" she choked out as he gripped her neck tighter. He had her off the ground against the wall giving her ample room to lift her knees up and push him off her. He let go of her neck making her fall back onto the ground gasping for air as he got his footing back and lunged for her again she quickly stood up straight lifted her elbows up and sent and high kick with her left leg which he easily blocked with his opposite elbow allowing her to trying again with her other. Blocked.
Rushing forward she sent her knee into him making stumbled back for her to send another high kick towards him meeting his face she spun with the momentum and used her other leg to hit him again but he caught her crook of her knee with his shoulder and flipped her up and over making her head hit the edge of the stool that Henry was using earlier and her world went black.
As she came to, she felt herself being lifted into the air by her neck as her eyes fluttered open to see Daniel, with her heavy arms she lifted them up until her hands gripped his hand around her neck
"You could at least recognise me Danny" she choked out and she fruitlessly tried to fight him, her eyes started to droop as she heard a voice from the stall entrance.
"Daniel Stop!" Regina yelled. He listened as he looked behind the red head to see the woman he was looking for. He dropped the woman on the ground in front of Regina. David got onto the floor and dragged Amelia out of the stall by her shoulders. David had ignored her cry of pain as he took her out of danger. "It's true. You're really here" she whispered in awe in seeing her first love.
Daniel saw her and lunged for her, David saw this and pushed himself up to push Regina out the way. David then shuts the door of the stall and locks it. With the only sound they heard was the other side of the door in anger. David pushed the door back to keep it closed. He had to leave Amelia struggled to sit herself up on the floor clutching her sore head.
"It won't hold for long. Can you cast a spell to subdue him?" David asked Regina
"No, I won't use magic on him" she refused. David sighed and reached for his gun once again, turning the safety on. Regina saw him do this
"What do think you're doing?!" she shouted at him
"He's a monster, Regina, he tried to kill Amelia! If you won't out him down, I will!" he shouted at her, Regina turned her head at the mention of her Amelia. She was on the ground her fighting off loosing conscience. She turned back to David.
"David, please! Just let me talk to him" she pleaded with him as she tried to pull him away
"it's too big of a risk. There's no telling what he'll do"
"You have to at least give me a chance!"
"Out of the way, Regina! Now!" he pushed her aside, but she relentlessly tried to stop David from opening the door to shoot Daniel.
"No!" she refused "I won't let you hurt him! He'll listen to me! Please! Let me talk to my fiancé"
Giving the former Queen she needed the assassin waits around the corner from the stall Daniel was trapped within. She needed to know how her friend ended up like this, but more importantly, he packed a punch, there was no way she was leaving Regina alone with whatever the hell he was now. She listens closely as Regina unlocks the door to the stall opening it to reveal her lost love.
Inside, Daniel has seemingly calmed down. He slowly approaches Regina and brings his hand up to cup her face, but, instead, he grabs her by the neck. He slams her against the wall just outside the stall.
"Daniel…" she choke out as he continues to choke her "Stop. It's me" she tried again "I love you" she whispers. The three words work as he seems to come out of his homicide daze, recognising her voice as he finally lets her go, taking a few steps away from her as she re-gains her breath.
As if he could see again he looks' upon the woman he love "Regina…" he whispers in recognition
"Daniel…" the former Queen closes the distance between the throwing her arms around her fiancé for the first time in years, holding him as tight as she could
"I can't believe it's really you" Regina said to Daniel, her eyes streaming with tears. He suddenly cried out I pain, stumbling out of her loving arms, clutching his head.
"Stop. Just stop the pain." He begged her
"How?" Regina asked his desperately. He stumbled forward grabbing Regina by the arms. Amelia took a step forward her shoulder flaring up in pain and leaned heavily on the corner
"Let me go" he whispered to her. Amelia finally felt the first tears leave her eyes. Her heart was breaking for the woman she loved and she could do nothing to help her ease it
Regina shook her head, gripping his arms tightly as more tears streamed down her face. "No…. No, I can't" she said choking out a sob "I won't lose you again!"
"Daniel, I love you" she whispered
"Then love again" Suddenly, Daniel clutched his head again, crying out in pain. He stumbled a few steps backward, then suddenly straightened up again, standing rigidly still. Amelia stepped from the corner and put herself between her old friend unsheathing a long thin blade from her boot, gripping in her hand as he stared at both women silently tilting his head. He then rushed forward, his arms outstretched aggressively at the women, but Amelia's blade quickly found its way into his chest, to the hilt, stopping him in stunned silence. Amelia's green eyes watched his eyes change slowly back to the boy she once knew.
"Leela" he whispered
Her heart dropped as he spoke his nickname for her. "I'm so sorry" Amelia whispered to her childhood friend as he choked on his own blood "I can't let you hurt her" he tried to reach for the red head's neck, but a magical hue covered him freezing him in place. Amelia heard Regina let out another strangled sob as she slowly waved her hand and Amelia watched as her friend faded away into dust leaving the blade to drop onto the floor.
"Requiescat in pace"
It was late when Amelia found herself in front of Archie's office door, rapping the glass with her knuckles. He's probably not there. She thought to herself. It was gone nine. He's gone home. Amelia shook her head and headed towards the stairs when she heard the door open and Archie making her freeze in place
"Amelia" he called for her, she turned around to face him
"I know its late"
"What is it?"
"I hurt someone" Archie opened the door and held out his arm toward his office
"Come on in" Amelia hesitantly entered his office and took a seat on his sofa next to Pongo who was sat on the floor as Archie followed her in and took a seat in front of her picking up a pad and pen "Now tell me what happened"
